Holy cr*p it's a 1976 Honda CXRL650R street-tracking dirt-jumper! (and beer)...

Almost forgot: The Golden Plastic Chopper Wheelie Monument!!



Finally, a good reason to clear the empties and corks off my mantelpiece; the GPCWM deserves top billing!

osteoderm said:

Almost forgot: The Golden Plastic Chopper Wheelie Monument!!

Finally, a good reason to clear the empties and corks off my mantelpiece; the GPCWM deserves top billing!

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That calls for a beer!

And now, a word rant about petcocks, for these parts just arrived in the mail today:



That there is a Golan "Click-Slick" petcock and Bung King 22mm late-model HD-style 22mm threaded tank bung. And a fuel filter. Some may disagree, but the Golan is essentially a differently-styled Pingle, with positive detents. It's solid brass, made in America, and yes, it costs a fuckload of money (at least for such a rather small and unassuming piece of kit). With this, and the two on my cafe, I am now in the ridiculous position of having spent more on petcocks than on all of the many tanks I've bought for all my projects. Combined.

Why? Because cheap NPT petcocks leak, fail, never point the right way, are hard to adjust, are often ugly, and fussy to use. I'd rather work a little harder/longer, make/save a little more money, and keep buying these great petcocks rather than suffer with another marginal compromise. Yes, you have to weld a new bung into the tank, but once you're done, you're done.

Okay, rant over; let's drink:



Wild, yeasty, fruity, and a touch of d'funk. Probably have to let this one bottle-age awhile for the full effect, but thirst trumps patience today...

So, remember this sweet tank?



Time to introduce Mr. Hacksaw:



I'm not sure what sort of male thread spigot that there stock petcock dealie is, but it's a goner.



Of course, the drill battery always craps out halfway through the holesawin'.



The fit is a little rough, but the poor bastard skillful welding artist who finishes this up for me should be pleased well enough.

Time to move onto the top of the tank. Y'know; the "pretty" side. Here's where all my best-laid plans start to go a little sideways. The tank came to me with a stock filler cap; a little funky, missing latch bits, and generally lacking on moto-x appeal:



The XR600R tank the bike came with is dang ugly, but the cap has a beefy purposeful look I dig:



I think it's a look that can work: an old CB metal tank with a modern oversize scalloped filler cap:



Of course, the modern cap is plastic, oddball-thread, and plastic. It's also plastic. Honestly, I might try to ignore the plastic part if I could find a matching-thread male weld-in filler neck to work with it, but so far I'm drawing blanks. This anodized aluminium cap/steel neck one I found is closer to the mark:



Unfortunately, I think it's just too small. If I'm going to go to the trouble of hacking off the old neck, removing the latch/hinge hardware, and smoothing the steel around the filler, it's going to be because I absolutely love the end result with all the burning passion of a thousand million blazing suns.



Even imagining this welded in and lower, I don't love it so much. The filler neck is just a hair under 2" OD, and the cap is 2 3/8" OD. The supplier (about the only decent one I have yet to find) makes one that has a 3" OD filler with a 4" OD cap in the same style, but the neck is only listed in aluminium, and the cap does not come black-anodized. Time to make some calls and shamelessly beg for better options. The same general style/type of filler/cap in a 3"-3 1/2" OD size in black would be ideal. Hook-ups, anyone?

so im following this amazingly intuitive and ingeniously diabolical build thread. ive also perused through your "1974 Yamaha TX650A - working lights and horn" thread. my question to you my good sir is, when the F**K are you gonna write up your "199? Ducati 916 - boxes and boxes full of awesome" build thread???
with the former and current build thread, I can only imagine what is/will be done with the Duc.

sorry I cant provide any help or insight on your tank dilemma. I look forward to your solution.

"Ribbit"- Frog



Epic build sir 8)

Why not use the one that works and then have a bigger one around that which fulfills your cosmetic needs?

plagrone said:

Why not use the one that works and then have a bigger one around that which fulfills your cosmetic needs?

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A fine question. Let me take a swig of (fine artisanal) gin and reply thusly:

A) The smaller ID filler pictured would require more sheetmetal work to the top of the tank than I'd like to deal with.
I) I'd need to cut out a much larger patch, fill the opening, and drill a round mounting hole through that.

B) All else being equal, I'd just as well prefer a wider/larger ID filler.
I) A larger filler means the internal thread may be less susceptible to damage from gas pump nozzles.
II) A larger filler neck would make for simpler application of any number of tank sealant products.
a) Said larger opening will facilitate a more complete removal of failed tank sealant products.
III) Larger fillers make rapid filling from sketchy third-world jerry-cans a little faster.
a) When the Nazis are chasing you through the jungle a la Indiana Jones, rapid re-fueling is critical
i) Seriously. Those guys never run out of gas? It's a movie; in real life, you need all the Nazi-escaping expediency you can get.

In other news, it's teh weekend. Tim e to outside and swill some rotgut. staggering in yard Huzzah!

Do tank sealers fail often? When I got out to AZ my POR-15 sealer was like a slivery paper bag stuffed into my dry tank. I figured the 120 deg heat or complete lack of humidity did it in and was just going to try again (feel you on the filler neck being key to getting the old crap out).

Is there any way to improve the likelihood that the product will stick?

-Ben

(sorry to threadjack.)

They sometimes fail and the main reason being that the person that put it in never followed the instructions to begin with. These liners are not something that you can just do a rush job on, you need to take your time and do every step correctly. Different sealers often get a bad rap, but a lot of it has to do with the actual installation.

Sent from my Studio XPS 435MT using Tapatalk

I agree with herrdeacon, I used Por15 on a Kawi Ltd 1000 tank. Followed all their instruction to the letter. It was still fine 5 years later when I sold the bike.

Thanks guys. I'll be a bit more precise this time around. I think i botched the baking soda finish to the apple vinegar bath.

Second time is the charm

racerdave said:

Is that [trophy] for the XS6fidy?

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Yup. It's almost a running joke around here; I show up at whatever meet-up or show as the least-competitive spectator, and more often than not end up with a goofy trophy or a swag-bag. It's not as slick as the usual try-hard competition, seldom cleaned, and worn around the edges, but folks still dig it.

*random*

High five for Nexus 5

<android fanatic, romer and developer

Has everyone already seen this?:



Good grief, I'm so lazy. I need beer:

Bitchin

Sure did. Pretty well executed

Love the Maine Beer Co stuff- though I prefer lunch, dinner and Moe over Peeper.

Distanceham said:

Love the Maine Beer Co stuff- though I prefer lunch, dinner and Moe over Peeper.

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The only other one I've tried is their Mean Old Tom. I liked it well enough, but for a warm summer evening, the Peeper goes down a little better.